Department for Education

Free School Meals

Lord Brooke of Alverthorpe: To ask His Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the number of children eligible for free school meals who are not registered to receive them; and what stepsthey are taking to encourage registration.

Baroness Barran: The department does not routinely collect information on the proportion of pupils that would be entitled to a Free School Meal (FSM) but do not make a claim.The department wants to ensure as many eligible pupils as possible are claiming their FSM, and to make it simple for schools and local authorities to determine eligibility. To support this, the department provides an Eligibility Checking System to make processes as straightforward as possible. A model registration form has been developed to help schools encourage parents to sign up for FSM. In addition, the department provides guidance to Jobcentre Plus advisers, so that they can make Universal Credit recipients aware that they may also be entitled to wider benefits, including FSM.

Department for Business and Trade

Postal Services: Standards

Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth: To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to address delays to postal deliveries by Royal Mail.

Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth: To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of delays in Royal Mail deliveries on the delivery of medicines.

The Earl of Minto: It is for Ofcom, as the independent regulator of postal services, to set and monitor Royal Mail’s service standards and decide how to use its powers to investigate and take enforcement action should Royal Mail fail to achieve its obligations without good justification. Ofcom is currently investigating whether Royal Mail failed to meet its quality-of-service performance targets for 2022-23. Royal Mail delivers medicines on behalf of a number of organisations, including the NHS. However, the Government does not have a role in Royal Mail’s contractual arrangements with its customers, including delivery of medication and the delivery services used.